PCB rejects Amir's ignorance claim over fixing

Pakistan's cricket authorities on Friday, rejected Mohammad Amir's claims that they had not educated the talented fast bowler on how to combat corruption in the sport.

Written by Agence-France Presse

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Lahore:

Pakistan's cricket authorities on Friday, rejected Mohammad Amir's claims that they had not educated the talented fast bowler on how to combat corruption in the sport.

Amir was one of three Pakistani cricketers handed jail sentences on Thursday for their part in spot-fixing during a Test match against England at Lord's last year, a scandal that has the reverberated across the cricketing world.

The 19-year-old will spend six months in a young offenders' detention centre, but he sought to excuse his behaviour earlier this week, saying that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) did not educate him on corruption.

"The PCB never told me just how serious a offence it was to get into these sort of things. They didn't educate me enough about anti-corruption laws," Amir was quoted in Pakistani media as saying.

The PCB strongly rejected the paceman's claims.

"A section of the media has reported a purported statement of Amir in which he has claimed that PCB did not educate him relating to anti-corruption codes that players are to abide on."

"PCB would like it known for the record that this claim is in total contradiction to the facts," said PCB in a press release.

Two months after the scandal, the International Cricket Council (ICC) came down hard on the PCB, sending them directives to curb fixing and discipline problems and threatening suspension if improvements were not seen.

PCB said Amir had signed the players' code of conduct in March 2010 "which clearly states that by signing the same the player commits to abiding by all ICC rules regarding betting, match fixing, corruption, and any matter that could call into question the integrity of the game."

The board said Amir had also attended several courses on how to deal with corruption and warning players on the dangers of associating with strangers.